Some time ago @lambdadmitry asked me to elaborate a bit about some discussion about the relevance of local search, which originated from a tweet by @JeffLinderoth. I apologize that it took me so long to complete this post, but I found some additional wisdom in yesterday’s talk by @MikeTrick. I will provide some examples of known problems. […]

This post discusses some challenges associated with testing a solver based on local search heuristics. Local search is quite different from mathematical programming-based solvers and it should be tested accordingly. The associated primal post (not yet published) presents the results of my experiments with LocalSolver 3.0. Local Search VS MI(N)LP: Apples and Oranges First thing […]

This post records my observations and comments after my first evening using LocalSolver, a solver based on the local search paradigm rather than on the branch-and-cut framework common to most MIP solvers. Overall, my first contact with LocalSolver was quite positive. This is a very general review, as its performance and features will be reviewed in […]